Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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The distance between Dhalpur and Chahata was about 120 km. Rafting was confined to the
period of November to June, and each depot(ghaat) used to send 7 to 8 rafts in a
season(Nov. to June). With 21 pieces in each bundle, 57 bundles made 1 chhai; 10 chhais
made 1 bhela(raft); and 12 bhelas made 1 dala(batch). In every batch, there used to be 29
bundles in the lower layer and 28 bundles in the upper layer in a chhai so as to maintain
balance. About 12 raftsmen, headed by one sardar, controlled the transportation of every
batch. It used to take about 8 days for them to cover the 120 km river route.
The cost of river transport was about 75% less than the road transport; hence the company,
which had the lease, saved a lot on this head. However, after nationalisation OFDC
discontinued this practice.
There were about 700 to 800 families of boatmen who were benefited by the river
transportation of bamboo. Besides, at every river depot there were about 30 labourers
engaged in bundling work, etc..(per comm., Bishnucharan Pradhan, Jogesh Ch. Pradhan
and Dilip Kumar Pradhan).
This river transportation was a very skilled job. The raftmen had to make adjustments in
the rafts where the river was narrow, or rocks were encountered. The whole thing has now
become a legend. Moreover, dams and barrages across the river route have further reduced
the scope of its revival.
Industrial customers of bamboo
Emami paper mill, which is situated near Balasore does not use bamboo, but uses waste
paper, sabai grass and hay as its raw material. Hence, only two paper mills viz. SEWA of
Jeypore and J.K. of Rayagada remained as the consumers of industrial bamboo in the state,
but increased use of hardwood further reduced their requirement of bamboo. Also the paper
mills tried to avoid lifting the old stock(bamboo) showing reason that it could not be used
in the production of quality paper.
JK paper mills has pioneered in becoming self-reliant in the raw material production. It has
sponsored research on hardwood species which succeeded in producing what is known as
‘JK super clone’. Such clones have been developed for Casuarina and Eucalyptus and they
grow faster than the normal ones produced from seeds. JK mills has entered into agreement
with growers of Orissa and Andhra, etc. to buy back their harvest, and has supplied clonal
plants to them. The company claims that the net returns from such clonal plantations are
significantly higher [ like, Rs.71000 per hectare as against Rs.32500 from seed-route
plantations, in the first rotation as estimated against a procurement price of
Rs.850/MT(wood) at the farm gate in 2002 ] and this has encouraged growers to use their
lands for the supply of raw materials to JK mills at several places of Orissa. In fact, the
company succeeded to bring 22458 hectares under this type of plantation in Orissa out of
which 19039 hectares were covered under Social Forestry scheme. The area proposed to be
added in 2005 was 2085 hectares. Added to this self-confidence is/was the convenience of
getting bamboo from other states like Andhra, Chhattisgarh and Assam as the policy in
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